“He was a disaster”- Xavi fuming with referee as Barcelona crash out of the Champions League
Barcelona boss Xavi branded the performance of Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs a disaster following their 6-4 defeat in the Champions League quarter final to Paris Saint Germain.
The Catalans were leading the tie after a 3-2 victory in Paris, and looked to be on their way to the semi finals when Raphinha opened the scoring.
Unfortunately for Xavi the tie was turned on it’s head with the decision to send off Ronald Araujo, who was adjudged to have brought down Bradley Barcola just before the winger burst into the box.
Xavi brands referee’s performance disastrous
The night got worse for the Barcelona manger as he was later sent off for dissent, his third red card of the season and his fourth since arriving at the Camp Nou.
PSG made the most of the man advantage and equalised through former Barca man Ousmane Dembele before Vitinha gave them the lead.
Kylian Mbappe made sure Luis Enrique’s side advanced to the semi finals as his two second half goals put the tie to bed.
Xavi was left in no doubt as to why his side went out and highlighted the red card for Araujo as the turning point.
“The decision completely changed the game”, he said in quotes picked up by Mail Sport.
“It was too much to give a red card.”
Xavi went on to slam the referee’s performance and said: “I told the referee his performance was very bad. He was a disaster. He killed the tie.”
Goalkeeping coach Jose Ramon De la Fuente was also sent off for protesting, making it three red cards on the night.
“We were upset and very angry”, Xavi added.
“With eleven against eleven we were well organised. We almost equalised through Gundogan and the 2-0 with Robert Lewandowski would have change it too.
“We had clear chances but we were always trailing because with ten men it’s very difficult.
“It’s a shame that the work of a season is finished because of a refereeing decision. I would have liked to play eleven against eleven every minute. This sending off is unnecessary.”
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